MariaDB

Bonesnap

Has anyone here had any experience with MariaDB? I have heard of it for a while, but only recently has it crept into my life now that XAMPP has dropped MySQL and started including MariaDB instead. My research indicates that it's basically a drop-in replacement for MySQL so all current PHP functions should work out of the box (the lead developer is the founder of MySQL, so that's pretty cool). Just wondering if this is actually true, or if there are any gotchas/nuances with it?

I'm in the process of writing a proposal that I am aiming to hand into my boss by the end of the week that advocates us developers to work from our own computers (currently we all map drives to one central computer in one big folder and all code resides there. Nothing is local). If we go down this road then that means we'll most likely be installing XAMPP on all our computers to operate as the web server, which now includes MariaDB. I want to be able to reassure my boss that just because it's a different name it will still work as expected.

Also, I am aware that XAMPP offers historical downloads where it's possible to snag a version that still has MySQL, but I am using that as a last resort as I'd like to stay current as possible.

Also just wondering for myself as I move forward in my own knowledge/life/career, as it seems that MariaDB is slowly overtaking MySQL (many Linux distributions are now including it and Wikipedia and Mozilla have changed over as well).

Thanks!

laserlight

I see it as akin to OpenOffice.org versus LibreOffice, i.e., they started from the same code base, but because Oracle was in control of OpenOffice.org and did not seem open source developer friendly, LibreOffice eventually replaced it as the de facto office suite for Linux distributions. MariaDB was forked from MySQL for pretty much the same reason (hi Oracle!), and likewise it has gained acceptance among developers and will displace MySQL, if it has not already done so.

Personally, I prefer PostgreSQL :p

Derokorian

Why would you need to switch DB simply because that's what XAMPP includes? Could you not just install MySQL yourself alongside XAMPP? For that matter, can't you install Apache and PHP yourself as well, and forego XAMPP altogether? Do you really want some people who package other software together to really have a say in making business decisions for you and your company?

Anyway, laser's explanation is spot on - use it if you want, it'll probably take over eventually though it has a long way to climb.

Bonesnap

Derokorian;11052809 wrote:
Why would you need to switch DB simply because that's what XAMPP includes? Could you not just install MySQL yourself alongside XAMPP? For that matter, can't you install Apache and PHP yourself as well, and forego XAMPP altogether? Do you really want some people who package other software together to really have a say in making business decisions for you and your company?

Anyway, laser's explanation is spot on - use it if you want, it'll probably take over eventually though it has a long way to climb.

At least give me some credit!

I don't want to do a lot of things at my work, but I am trying to provide a solution to a problem that management doesn't think exists. And yes, I would much prefer to just install and configure each piece manually (as I have done on my home machine), but that's just not going to happen, for way too many reasons. The most glaring being we are way too busy to take 10 developers away from their projects to manually install this stuff (plus we will also need FileZilla server and the ability to send emails - phpMailer is not an option. Both of these things XAMPP takes care of). And since I am probably the most experienced (take that as you will), when something inevitably goes wrong I'll be the one everyone is coming to to solve their problems. I will also be the fall guy, though I will be the fall guy anyway, just the manual way I will fall even harder.

For the record I have included the manual set up in my proposal as an option that offers the most customization. I have also included the option of creating and distributing a virtual machine. XAMPP installation is by far the least time consuming option of the 3, and therefore the most likely to allow my proposal to be accepted. I can "stick to my guns" and be rejected, and therefore back to where I am now, or offer a compromise and get 90% of what I want.

Yes, I suppose we could completely ignore the bundled MariaDB and install MySQL as a stand-alone installation, but then we are introducing fragmentation and confusion, as I don't think anyone here is prepared to configure it (plus getting phpMyAdmin to work with it). XAMPP comes bundled with one of the two, even the "lite" version, so it makes sense to use the software as intended.

I was asking about MariaDB to see if there were any gotchas so I can be confident when I tell management that it's not a problem.

laserlight

Well, a quick search of the Web brings up official MariaDB articles on:
MariaDB versus MySQL - Compatibility
MariaDB versus MySQL - Features
Differences Between the MySQL and MariaDB Query Optimizer